It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.
 | The Hope Of Obama, The Smallness of Huckabee |
Maybe your favored candidate won, maybe not, but I think most people would acknowledge that the Iowa caucuses taken as a whole demonstrated the high stakes of the 2008 presidential election.
On the Democratic side, we have Barack Obama, who has based his presidential campaign on hope for a future in which the government is able to provide people with equal protection under the law, as the Constitution requires.
On the Republican side, the winner was Mike Huckabee, probably the single most frightening candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Whereas Barack Obama focuses on hope and the mutual benefit of good government for all people, Huckabee encourages people to fear those who don’t belong to their own little groups. Huckabee doesn’t look to the future. Rather, he works to protect the rotten traditions of the past that gave special privileges to certain groups to the detriment of others:
- Men against women
- Citizens against foreigners
- Christians against everyone else
It’s often been pointed out that the Democrats aren’t running against George W. Bush in 2008. However, if Iowa is an indication, they may be running against someone even more dangerous. Mike Huckabee has a combination of ignorance, corrpution and ideological extremism that would make him an even worse President than Bush.
Republicans chose an enthusiastic proponent of invading and occupying Iraq. Democrats chose a candidate who had the wisdom to oppose the invasion and occupation of Iraq from the start.
It can easily be argued that when it comes to the Democratic Party as a whole, the institution has been sliding dangerously toward Republican right wing ideology. However, when we take a look at the individual Democratic and Republican politicians who won the Iowa caucuses last night, the difference is dramatic.
Barack Obama may not be perfect, but he’s far superior to Mike Huckabee.
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Do you really think Huck is the most frightening? More than Ron Paul? If it was down to just the two, and you had to choose… If I had to choose the lesser of two weevils I’d probably choose Huckabee.
Comment by Scott — 1/4/2008 @ 1:20 pm
Ron Paul is less frightening to me because it’s clear that he cannot gain the Republican nomination. Take that away, and yes, I’d say that they’re running neck and neck.
Comment by J. Clifford — 1/4/2008 @ 1:35 pm
you can say that again (”baaaa”).
You may some interesting points and gave me some food for thought.
I think that Huckabee’s victory represents a protest vote against political business as usual. Obama’s victory might be viewed the same way, though. Huckabee really is not expected to make much headway in the NH primary, and I think that there were just a lot of Republicans at loose ends given the state of the Republican contest. Since Guiliani is going to be a major player (God help us) in the remainder of primaries, Huckabee I predict, will play a much smaller role from hereon in.
Jim, as to your comments on the post “Deja Vu All Over Again,” I wanted to send you a link to an interesting review of a book on the McGovern campaign, its supporters and its effect on Democratic policy in the following years. http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/797
It may communicate some of my points in “Deja Vu” a littler better than I did.
Comment by jerseydem — 1/4/2008 @ 10:05 pm
Mike Huckabee is a protest against political business as usual? By “political business as usual”, you must mean government in which the President obeys the law and upholds the Constitution.
Comment by Fruktata — 1/4/2008 @ 10:18 pm
Believe me, Frukata, I’m right there with you. Although I can’t say that Bush has been running government “as usual,” by your definition.
But how can we account for a state whose citizens give Obama and Huckabee their most votes??
Comment by jerseydem — 1/4/2008 @ 11:35 pm
I really don’t see how you can put Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama in the same category, when it comes to abuse of the Constitution. Barack Obama is not perfect, but he’s nowhere near the violator that Mike Huckabee is. Mike Huckabee is in a league of his own, even beyond Bush.
Comment by Fruktata — 1/4/2008 @ 11:49 pm
Fruktata, you’re missing my point. Both Huckabee and Obama are running on claims that they would somehow put an end to partisanship in politics. That’s what I mean by “politics as usual.” And please don’t tell me that Obama is not making that claim.
You’re right — Huckabee and Obama have little else, if anything, in common.
Comment by jerseydem — 1/5/2008 @ 5:56 pm